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(No Model.) a sheets sheet 1.

E. S. RENWIOK.

INOUBATOR.

1 Patented Feb. 9, 1886.. Z2

4% f l Z N. Prrzns, PholcLRhographer. Washin ton, D. C,

UNITED STATES "PATENT rrinn.

INCUBATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 335,961, dated February 9, 1.886.

Application filed April 15, 1884. Serial No. 127,945. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWARD SABINE REN- WIcK, of Millburn, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have made an invention of certain new and useful Improvements in Incubators; and I do hereby declare that the following, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact de scription and specification of the same.

The invention consists of improvements upon the incubators described in previous patents granted to me; and the objects of the invention are the more efficient distribution of heat and supply of moisture in an incubator having a descending ventilation through the egg-trays and incubating chamber, the removal of the chickens from the egg-trays as soon as the chickens are hatched, the prevention of overheating when a descending ventilation is employed, and the more easy reversal of turning egg-trays.

The improvements consist of certain combinations of mechanical devices, which are set forth in the claims at the close of this specifi' cation, and they may be used jointly or separately. but I prefer to use them simultaneously, in the same incubator.

In order that the said invention may be fully understood, I have represented in the accompanying drawings, and will proceed to describe, an incubator embodying my invention in the best form thus far devised by me,

7 it being understood that the invention may be embodied in other forms, and that parts of it may be used without others, as circumstances or the views of different users or manufacturers render expedient.

Figure 1 of said drawings is a side view of said incubator. Fig. 2 is a plan of the same with the top and one of the circulators removed. Fig. 3 is a central vertical section thereof. 1 Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical section thereof through the center of the heater. Fig. 5 is a vertical transverse section thereof at the line or w of Fig. 2. Fig. 6 is a transverse section of a portionof the incubator, drawn on a larger scale than that of the preceding figures. Fig. 7 represents, upon a larger scale than Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive, a section. of the water-fount with its valve opened by the pin. Figs. 8 and 9 represent views of modifications of my incubator as hereinafter described;

In order that the water for the water-circm lation may be heated, the upright heater L is provided. It consists of an upright vessel through which the two heat-flues cl d are passed, the said flues communicating at the bottom with the short chimneys g of the lamps, and extending through the top of the incubator, so as to permit the products of combustion to escape into the air. The said lampflues are fitted with internal waste-heat chimneys, I I, as described in my previous patents,

and the upper ends of these Waste-heat chim-- neys are fitted with drop-valves E E, by which the heat is controlled, as described in my Patent No. 193,616. The said upright heater L is connected at its upper end with two circulators, O O, which are arranged in the upper part of the incubating-chamber A, above the egg trays or holders B, which hold the eggs. These circulators are connected by direct pipes w with the upper part of the heater L, and by return-pipes to with the lower part of the heater L, so that the warm water from the heater may circulate through the circulators and return to the heaters for reheating.

In order that the requisite amount of moisture may be supplied to the incubating-chamber, a water tray, M, is constructed upon each circulator and is connected with it by an opening, 0, made in'thc top of the circulator, said circulator thus acting as a pipe to connect and combine the watertray with the heater, so that the said tray may be partially filled with warm water, which is kept warm by heat from the circulator upon which the tray is mounted. The moisture from the tray is diffused by evaporation into the air in the.

upper part of the incubating-chamber.

' In order to supply water as it evaporates from the trays, a fount, N, is'provided for l each water-tray or evaporating-tray M. the said fount being fitted with a tube, a, which descends down to the level at which the water -is to be maintained in the tray.

For convenience of removing and replacing the fount, its tube is fitted with a ball-valve, which is opened by a stationary pin in the circulator when the fount is lowered to its place, as represented in section in Fig. 7.

In order to supply warm air for ventilation, the heater L is arranged in an air-supply pipe, J, which is formed by the end wall, 6, of the incubator, the partition 70, and parts of the sides a a of the incubator. The air enters this supply-pipe through the opening lin the bottom of the incubator, the said opening being made larger than the end of the water-heater L, so that there is a space around the lower end of the said heater for the admission of air. The air which enters at this opening is warmed by radiation from the heater as it rises throughthe air-supply pipe J. A further supply of warm air is obtained by constructing the heater L with a central air-supply pipe, J, which receives the air at its lower end and permits it to discharge at its upper end. The warmed air enters the incubatingchamber at the upper edge of the partition lc,where it comes in contact with the vapor exhaling from the water- 30' trays of the circulators 0, so that the air is supplied with moisture in the upper part of the incubatingchamber.

In order that the warmed and moistened air may pass downward, the circulators C are. smaller in breadth than the horizontal area of the incubating-chamber, so that the air may descend at their outer edges and between them to the egg-trays B beneath. Thev circulators are by preference fiat vessels, but, if preferred, they may consist of pipes which are suitably connected with the heater for circulation, and which have evaporating trays formed upon them.

In order that the foul air may escape from the incubating-chamber,a ventilating chimney or flue, G, is constructed at the end of the incubator which is farthest from the lamp or other source of heat, the said chimney or flue being formed by the end Wall, c, the partition 7c, and parts of the sides a a of the incubator. A hole, '1, is made through the top of the incubator for the escape of the foul air, and a chimney-head, G, is fitted to it. The chimney may be extended by applying a pipe to this chimney-head, so as to increase the draft,

if necessary. Apasteboard pipe two feet long is aconvenient pipe for this purpose. The air from the incubating-chamber enters the lowerpart of the i entilatingchimney through opening'sffin the partition is below thelevel of the egg-trays B; hence the air for ventilation, which enters the incubating chamber near its top atone end from the supply pipe or flue J, is compelled to pass downward through the egg-trays and to enter the ventilating chimney or flue Gthrough the openings fat the otherend of the incubating-chamber,

The ventilation is thus a descending ventilation,with the advantages attendant upon that system, as set forth in my previous patents, and the air before it passes to the egg-trays is supplied with moisture from the evaporators, which supply moisture to the warm airin the upper part of the incubating-chamber. As these vessels are supplied with hot water fromthe heater, they evaporate the Water freely and insure a supply of moisture. In place, how ever, of connecting them with a heater common to both, each may be connected with a separate heater, as represented at Fig. 8, in which case the combinations recited in the sixth and seventh claims at the close of this specification will not be used. 1

In order that the eggs may be supported in the trays B, they are fitted with egg-supports,' which may be rollers or rails, (as the user may prefer,) or slats h, upon which the eggs are laid.

In order that the chickens when hatched may escape immediately from the egg-trays, the spaces t" between the egg-supports of said trays are made wide enough for the passage of the young chickens, a space of about one and one-eighth inch in breadth being sufficient for the purpose. There is also no wirecloth, perforated metal, or other obstruction at the bottom of the trays to the passage of chickens; hence as soon as the chickens escape from the shells they may pass downward into the chicken-chamber K, formed by the lower part ofthe incubating-chamber A.

In order that the chickens may be readily removed and prevented from fouling the bot-- tom of the incubator and falling upon the circulating pipes, which are used in some incubators, chicken-trays]? are provided, and the flap-holes and flaps b at the sides of the incubator are extended downward sufficiently to permit the chicken-trays to be readily applied to and removed from the chicken-chamber K, or holes'lower than those for the eggtrays may be made in the sides of the'incubator, and may be provided with suitable flaps, or other shutters. I preferto construct these chicken-trays of pasteboard stiffened at their front and rear sides by a wooden rail, 1), as shown in section an a larger scale in Fig. 6; but they may be made of sheet metal,'wood, or other material.

In order to prevent the chickens in the chicken-chamber from escaping through'the: ventilating-holesf, the latter are guarded by wire guards formed of wire-cloth,that of halfinch mesh being well adaptedto the purpose.

To prevent possible overheating, a supplementary intermittent escape for hot air isv provided, a ventilating-opening, q, being formed in the top a of the incubating-chamher, and by preference overthe air-supply pipe J, and being fitted with a valve, E, which is operated, by preference, by the same, Valve-engine which controls the heat-valves both with the ventilating-chimney G,con1mu nicating with it below the egg-supports, and with the supplementary ventilating-opening in its top, a downward circulation of air may be maintained,with an intermittent escape of heated air at the top to prevent possible overheating.

The regulation of heat is effected,by preference,by means of a tension-thermostat-such as is described in my previous Patent No.

281,397the said thermostat being combined by multiplying levers with a valveengine which is driven by a weight or by a spring, and which operates the valves E E.

In place of having the spaces between the egg-supports of uniform width throughout the entire length of said supports, there may be occasional spaces for the downward passage of chickens from the egg-trays, as represented in section at Fig. 9, the other spaces, :0, being closed by wire-cloth; but this construction is not as good, in my opinion, as that first described.

In order that theeggtrays may be reversed with facility, for the purpose of turning the eggs upside down, as is daily practiced with incubators, each egg-tray is fitted at its diag onally-opposite corners with a small post, 8; hence when an empty egg-tray is set upside down over a full one the ends of the posts of one tray enter the unoccupied corners of the other tray, and the two trays are thereby locked laterally to each other, so that there is no risk of the trays slipping apart laterally when they are simultaneously turned upside down for the purpose of turning the eggs.

The arrangement of the heater at the end of the incubator is a practical necessity, because of the difficulties attending the application of heat elsewhere, and the central arrangement of the heater at one end of the incubator, in combination with the lateral circulators connected with the said heater by direct pipes w, which are outside the circulators in the upper part of the incubating chamber and convey the heated water to their farther ends, is advantageous, because the hot water is delivered at once to the farther ends of the circulators, or those ends which are farthest from the. source of heat, and are in the cooler portion of the upper part of the incubatingchainber; hence the heated water tends to heat the farther portion of the incubator hotter than it would otherwise be, while the cooling of the water by radiation of heat as it returns through the lateral circulators to the heater causes the part of the incubating-chamber nearer the heater to be cooler than it would be if the heated water passed directly from the heater to the nearer ends of the circulators. This combination therefore tends to equalize the heat in the incubatingchamber. In practice the direct-flow pipes to are jacketed with a non-conductor of heat-such as pasteboardseparated from the flow-pipe by an air-space,

so as to prevent the central portion of the incubating-chamber from being overheated, and to retain the heat of the water as much as possible until at or about its entrance into the farther ends of the circulators.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of the incubating-chamber, the heater, and the evaporating-tray in connection with the heater, whereby the evaporatingtray in the incubating-chamber is supplied with warmed water from the heater.

, 2. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of the incubating-chamber, the airsupply pipe arranged at the end of said chamber and delivering air to the upper part thereof, the heater arranged within said airsupply pipe, the circulator extended through the incubating-chamber, and the evaporator arrangedin the upper part of said chamber and in connection with said heater.

3. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of the egg-trays fitted with egg'supports having spaces between them for the passage of chickens, the chicken-chamber beneath for the reception of chickens which pass downward from said trays, and the body of the incubator having flap-holes for the removal of said chickens.

4. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of the egg-trays fitted with egg-supports having spaces between them for the passage of chickens, the chicken-chamber beneath, and the chickentray for holding the chickens. i 5. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of the incubating-chamber, the ventilatingchimney connected with said chamber below the egg-trays, the top of said chamber having the supplementary ventilatingopening, and the valve for said supplementary opening.

6. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of the central heater, the two lateral circulators, the direct pipes which are uninclosed in said circulators and lead from the upper end of the heater to the farther ends of the circulators, and the return-pipes leading from the nearer ends of the lateral circulators to the lower part of the heater.

7. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of the incubating-chamber, the central heater arranged at the end thereof, the lateral circulator, the direct'flow pipe, which is outside the lateral circulator and leads from the upper end of the heater to the farther end of the lateral circulator, and the return-pipe leading from the nearer end of the lateral circulator to the lower end of the heater.

In testimony whereof I have hereto set my hand this 8th day of April, A. D. 1884.

EDIVARD SABINE RENWIOK. -Witnesses:

W. L. BENNEM, J. ELAM WARNER. 

